Molly’s Girl is an excellent film about a socially awkward womannamed Molly who has her first gay experience with an activist named Mercedes.But this is anything but a typical coming-out story. In fact, it’s not acoming-out story at all. The film’s scenario is different from that of other films I’ve seen, and the relationships are interesting, complex andoriginal. The film boasts really good performances, particularly by the twoleads, but also by some of the supporting cast. And though when watching thefilm I found myself laughing out loud quite often, this is actually a prettyserious film. There is a lot going on here.

Molly’s Girl begins with Molly (Kristina Valada-Viars) speakingdirectly to the camera, awkwardly playing with her hair, trying to convince usto like her. And then we see that she’s speaking to a man opposite her. Hedoesn’t respond, so she continues awkwardly, “I think if Jesus had had more time on Earth, he would have gotten apet, like a dog or a mule or something. I think it would have helped him withthose people who killed him because they would have seen how he was with hisdog and they would have known that he was a naturally good person because hehad a dog who loved him.” The man gets up without saying a word. It’s aspeed-dating scenario.

A little later, Mercedes(Emily Schweitz) is at a bar with her girlfriend Gina (Stephanie Brown). Mollyenters the bar, and is upset that the bartender can’t remember what she orderedlast night. She is clearly a bit demented and tries hitting on the guy next toher, who is astonished and annoyed.

Mercedes is a gay rightsactivist, but her girlfriend just wants to live her life. Gina suddenly breaksup with Mercedes, and Molly overhears this. Molly has scared away the guy nextto her, and later in the night Mercedes takes the seat he has left vacant.Interestingly, Molly tries to sell herself to Mercedes the same way she triesto sell herself to men. And it’s not that Molly is trying to pick her up; it’sjust that that’s how nervous and socially awkward she is. However, Mercedes isdrunk, and asks Molly for a ride home.

At Mercedes’ home, Mollysuddenly kisses Mercedes, then backs away, as if completely unsure if that wereokay. Mercedes says “Oh, what the hell,”and returns her kiss. The next morning Mollyis still her talkative, awkward, overbearing self, which is great. It’s notthat her first gay experience has suddenly changed her. Molly simply attachesherself to Mercedes the way she would with anyone else, showing up at her placeof work, and then at her home, just walking in with a packed overnight bag.

Mercedes, wisely, gets arestraining order against Molly. But that doesn’t stop her; Molly shows up atwork, tells Mercedes she loves her. Molly is constantly lying, so that when shesays she’s the senator’s daughter, Mercedes of course doesn’t believe her. Butthis bit actually happens to be true. She’s the daughter of a senator Mercedeshas been trying to persuade to not vote against gay marriage.

So Mercedes rushes out tocatch up with her, but in order to confront her, thinking Molly is actuallypart of her father’s twisted strategy, not to suddenly make up with her (whicha lesser movie would have her do). But Molly breaks down, and Mercedes opens abit to her, then strikes a deal with her in which Molly will take her to herfather’s birthday party and introduce her as her fiancée.

Molly has a couple of props that are put to good use inestablishing and showing her character. The first is a hand mirror with hername on it. Molly often consults this mirror when stressed out or in doubt,looking into the mirror as if checking up on herself, trying to see how she isperceived. The other is a white fur scarf that she plays with, almost like achild playing dress-up. These work well to show both her trouble facingreality, and her somewhat stunted growth into adulthood.

There are, however, just acouple of unbelievable – or at least questionable - elements in the film (though they’re minor).For example, at the senator’s house, which is quite big, Molly and Mercedeshave to sleep on the floor of Molly’s sister’s room because there is no otherplace for them. But clearly a house this large would have guest rooms. It wouldbe a simple thing to address – just have Mercedes say something like, “Really, no guest room?” And show by the parents’ reactions that they’re just beingcold, that they’re not going to make things easy for Molly.

Also, Darren (AndreDavis), a man who works for Mercedes, drives Mercedes and Molly to Molly’sparents’ house. Why? And where does Darrensleep? We don’t know, except that it’s somewhere in the house. With thesenator’s assistant perhaps? It’s not clear why Darren is there at all. However,I’m glad he’s there, because I like that character, and there are somewonderful moments with him at the house. For example, I absolutely love it whenDarren says how he hates New York. “Ijust hate it. Honest-to-God hate it.”

As I mentioned, this film has a fairly strong supporting cast.In addition to some great work by Andre Davis, this film has some excellentwork by Ellen Dolan as Molly’s mother. One of my favorite moments withher is when she speaks with Mercedes about homosexuality while setting thetable for dinner. (Emily Schweitz is also excellent in that scene.)

And, amazingly, you reallydo come to feel sympathy for Molly, just as Mercedes does. You understand atleast a bit about why she is the way she is, why she is constantly creating afake life for herself. And Molly, without any anger, calls Mercedes out on herown bullshit in another of the film’s many excellent moments. These arewell-rounded, fully developed characters, and you end up caring for all ofthem.

Special Features

This DVD includes twodeleted scenes. In the first one, Molly is clearly looking at her youngersister in the mirror, not herself, which is interesting, as it shows she’s notable to look at things directly. (It can be cut, because we see her do that inother scenes.) The second one is actuallyan extended scene, and I think cutting this portion was the right move, for itdoesn’t fit at all. It shows a sleazy sort of guy hitting on Molly.

The DVD also includes thefilm’s trailer.

Molly’s Girl was written and directed by Scott Thompson. Molly’s Girl was released on March 19, 2013through TLA Releasing.

Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
Molly’s Girl is an excellent film about a socially awkward woman
named Molly who has her first gay experience with an activist named Mercedes.
But this is anything but a typical coming-out story. In fact, it’s not a
coming-out story at all. The film’s scenario is different from that of other films I’ve seen, and the relationships are interesting, complex and
original. The film boasts really good performances, particularly by the two
leads, but also by some of the supporting cast. And though when watching the
film I found myself laughing out loud quite often, this is actually a pretty
serious film. There is a lot going on here.
Molly’s Girl begins with Molly (Kristina Valada-Viars) speaking
directly to the camera, awkwardly playing with her hair, trying to convince us
to like her. And then we see that she’s speaking to a man opposite her. He
doesn’t respond, so she continues awkwardly, “I think if Jesus had had more time on Earth, he would have gotten a
pet, like a dog or a mule or something. I think it would have helped him with
those people who killed him because they would have seen how he was with his
dog and they would have known that he was a naturally good person because he
had a dog who loved him.” The man gets up without saying a word. It’s a
speed-dating scenario.
A little later, Mercedes
(Emily Schweitz) is at a bar with her girlfriend Gina (Stephanie Brown). Molly
enters the bar, and is upset that the bartender can’t remember what she ordered
last night. She is clearly a bit demented and tries hitting on the guy next to
her, who is astonished and annoyed.
Mercedes is a gay rights
activist, but her girlfriend just wants to live her life. Gina suddenly breaks
up with Mercedes, and Molly overhears this. Molly has scared away the guy next
to her, and later in the night Mercedes takes the seat he has left vacant.
Interestingly, Molly tries to sell herself to Mercedes the same way she tries
to sell herself to men. And it’s not that Molly is trying to pick her up; it’s
just that that’s how nervous and socially awkward she is. However, Mercedes is
drunk, and asks Molly for a ride home.
At Mercedes’ home, Molly
suddenly kisses Mercedes, then backs away, as if completely unsure if that were
okay. Mercedes says “Oh, what the hell,”
and returns her kiss. The next morning Molly
is still her talkative, awkward, overbearing self, which is great. It’s not
that her first gay experience has suddenly changed her. Molly simply attaches
herself to Mercedes the way she would with anyone else, showing up at her place
of work, and then at her home, just walking in with a packed overnight bag.
Mercedes, wisely, gets a
restraining order against Molly. But that doesn’t stop her; Molly shows up at
work, tells Mercedes she loves her. Molly is constantly lying, so that when she
says she’s the senator’s daughter, Mercedes of course doesn’t believe her. But
this bit actually happens to be true. She’s the daughter of a senator Mercedes
has been trying to persuade to not vote against gay marriage.
So Mercedes rushes out to
catch up with her, but in order to confront her, thinking Molly is actually
part of her father’s twisted strategy, not to suddenly make up with her (which
a lesser movie would have her do). But Molly breaks down, and Mercedes opens a
bit to her, then strikes a deal with her in which Molly will take her to her
father’s birthday party and introduce her as her fiancée.
Molly has a couple of props that are put to good use in
establishing and showing her character. The first is a hand mirror with her
name on it. Molly often consults this mirror when stressed out or in doubt,
looking into the mirror as if checking up on herself, trying to see how she is
perceived. The other is a white fur scarf that she plays with, almost like a
child playing dress-up. These work well to show both her trouble facing
reality, and her somewhat stunted growth into adulthood.
There are, however, just a
couple of unbelievable – or at least questionable - elements in the film (though they’re minor).
For example, at the senator’s house, which is quite big, Molly and Mercedes
have to sleep on the floor of Molly’s sister’s room because there is no other
place for them. But clearly a house this large would have guest rooms. It would
be a simple thing to address – just have Mercedes say something like, “Really, no guest room?” And show by the parents’ reactions that they’re just being
cold, that they’re not going to make things easy for Molly.
Also, Darren (Andre
Davis), a man who works for Mercedes, drives Mercedes and Molly to Molly’s
parents’ house. Why? And where does Darren
sleep? We don’t know, except that it’s somewhere in the house. With the
senator’s assistant perhaps? It’s not clear why Darren is there at all. However,
I’m glad he’s there, because I like that character, and there are some
wonderful moments with him at the house. For example, I absolutely love it when
Darren says how he hates New York. “I
just hate it. Honest-to-God hate it.”
As I mentioned, this film has a fairly strong supporting cast.
In addition to some great work by Andre Davis, this film has some excellent
work by Ellen Dolan as Molly’s mother. One of my favorite moments with
her is when she speaks with Mercedes about homosexuality while setting the
table for dinner. (Emily Schweitz is also excellent in that scene.)
And, amazingly, you really
do come to feel sympathy for Molly, just as Mercedes does. You understand at
least a bit about why she is the way she is, why she is constantly creating a
fake life for herself. And Molly, without any anger, calls Mercedes out on her
own bullshit in another of the film’s many excellent moments. These are
well-rounded, fully developed characters, and you end up caring for all of
them.
Special Features
This DVD includes two
deleted scenes. In the first one, Molly is clearly looking at her younger
sister in the mirror, not herself, which is interesting, as it shows she’s not
able to look at things directly. (It can be cut, because we see her do that in
other scenes.) The second one is actually
an extended scene, and I think cutting this portion was the right move, for it
doesn’t fit at all. It shows a sleazy sort of guy hitting on Molly.
The DVD also includes the
film’s trailer.
Molly’s Girl was written and directed by Scott Thompson. Molly’s Girl was released on March 19, 2013
through TLA Releasing.